Bipolar, Uni-polar

Drive circuits

Unipolar drive
Fig. illustrates a simple three-phase unipolaroperated
t d motor
t
th t uses optical
that
ti l sensors
(phototransistors) as position detectors.
Three phototransistors PT1, PT2, and PT3 are
placed on the end-plate
end plate at 120 intervals,
intervals and
are exposed to light in sequence through a
revolving shutter coupled to the motor shaft.

 As shown in Fig, the north pole of the rotor now faces the
salient pole P2 of the stator, and the phototransistor PT1
detects the light and turns transistor Tr1 on.
on
In this state, the south pole which is created at the salient
pole P1 by the electrical current flowing through the winding
W1 is attracting the north pole of the rotor to move it in the
direction of the arrow.
When the north pole comes to the position to face the
salient pole P1, the shutter, which is coupled to the shaft,
will
ill shade
h d PT1,
PT1 and
d PT2 will
ill be
b exposed
d to
t the
th light
li ht and
da
current will flow through the transistor Tr2.
When a current flows through the winding W2, and creates
a south pole on salient pole P2, then the north pole in the
rotor will revolve in the direction of the arrow and face the
salient pole P2.
P2

 At this moment, the shutter shades PT2, and the

phototransistor PT3 is exposed to the light.
These actions steer the current from the winding
W2 to W3. Thus salient pole P2 is de-energized,
while
hil the
th salient
li t pole
l P3 is
i energized
i d and
d
creates the south pole. Hence the north pole on
the rotor further travels from P2 to P3 without
stopping.
By repeating such a switching action in
sequence given in Fig, the permanent magnet
rotor revolves continuously.

Bipolar drive

 When a three-phase ((brushless)) motor is

driven by a three-phase bridge circuit, the
y which is the ratio of the
efficiency,
mechanical output power to the electrical
input power, is the highest, since in this
drive an alternating current flows through
each winding as an ac motor.
This drive is often referred to as 'bipolar
drive'.. Here, 'bipolar
drive
bipolar means that a winding
is alternatively energized in the south and
o t po
poles.
es
north

Principle of the three-phase bridge circuit

Here
H
t
too,
we use the
th optical
ti l method
th d for
f
detecting the rotor position; six phototransistors
are placed on the end-plate at equal intervals.
intervals
Since a shutter is coupled to the shaft,
shaft these
photo elements are exposed in sequence to the
light emitted from a lamp placed in the left of the
figure.
Now the problem is the relation between the
ON/OFF state of the transistors and the light
g
detecting phototransistors.

 The simplest relation is set when the logic

sequencer is
i arranged
d in
i such
h a way that
th t
when a phototransistor marked with a
certain
t i number
b
i exposed
is
d to
t light,
li ht the
th
transistor of the same number turns ON.
Fig.
g shows that electrical currents flow
through Tr1, Tr4, and Tr5, and terminals U
y voltage,
g , while
and W have the battery
terminal V has zero potential.

 In this state, a current will flow from terminal U to

V and another current from W to V as illustrated
V,
in Fig. We may assume that the solid arrows in
this figure
g
indicate the directions of the magnetic
g
fields generated by the currents in each phase.
The fat arrow in the centre is the resultant
magnetic field in the stator.

 The rotor is placed in such a position that the

field flux will have a 90 angle
g with respect
p
to the
stator's magnetic field as shown in Fig.
In such a state a clockwise torque will be
produced
d
d on the
th rotor.
t
Aft it revolves
After
l
th
through
h
about 30, PT5 is turned OFF and PT6 ON
which makes the stator
stator'ss magnetic pole revolve
60o clockwise.
Thus when the rotor's south pole gets near, the
stator's south pole goes away further to create a
continuous clockwise rotation.
The ON-OFF
ON OFF sequence and the rotation of the
transistor are shown in Fig.

 The rotational direction may be reversed by

arranging the logic sequencer in such a way that
when a photo-detector marked with a certain
number is exposed
p
to light,
g the transistor of the
same number is turned OFF.
On the other hand, when a phototransistor is not
exposed to light, the transistor of the same
number is turned ON.
In the positional state of Fig., Tr2, 3, and 6 are
ON, and the battery voltage E appears at
t
terminal
i l V,
V while
hil U and
d W have
h
zero electric
l ti
potential.

 Then, as shown in Fig.(a), the magnetic field in

the stator is reversed
reversed, and the rotor's
rotor s torque is
counter-clockwise.
After the motor revolves about 30,
30 , Tr2 turns
OFF and Tr1 ON. At this point, the field has
revolved 60 and becomes as shown in (b).
As the rotor produces another counterclockwise
torque, the counter-clockwise motion continues
and the field becomes as shown in (c).
This action is replaced in the sequence of (a)>(b)->(c)->(d)......
(b) ( ) (d)
tto produce
d
a continuous
ti
counter-clockwise motion.

 The motor discussed above has -connected

windings but it may also have Y-connected
windings,
Y connected
windings.
Fig.(a) shows a practical circuit which is used in
a laser-beam printer or a hard-disc drive. As
shown in Fig.10(b), three Hall elements are
placed at intervals of 60 for detection of the
rotor's
rotor
s magnetic poles.
poles
Because this motor has four magnetic poles, a
mechanical angle of 60 corresponds to an
electrical angle of 120.